Main:Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska
Krakow, Poland |Row 4 title = Years on National Team |Row 4 info = 2007-2018 |Row 5 title = Club |Row 5 info = TS Wisla Krakow |Row 6 title = Coach(es) |Row 6 info = Joanna Uracz-Kocur |Row 7 title = Current status |Row 7 info = Retired}}Katarzyna Iwona Jurkowska-Kowalska (born February 18 in Krakow) is a retired elite Polish gymnast and 2016 Olympian. She has also represented Poland at the 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2015 World Championships. Her husband, Arkadiusz Kowalski, is also an athlete, a professional handball player. Her best event is balance beam. Career 2007-2012 Jurkowska made her mark on the international stage at the 2007 World Championships and European Championships in 2007 and 2008. Poland only had one individual spot for the 2008 Olympics but Jurkowska was not selected for it, as she was too young and too green. Following that, she was more well-known on the World Cup circuit, placing sixth on beam at the Moscow World Cup and placing fifth at the Osijek World Cup in 2009. She won silver on beam and placed fifth on floor at the Ostrava World Cup in 2011. In 2012, she won another silver on beam at the Maribor World Cup. She missed the 2012 Olympics, but continued competing. 2013-2014 In 2013, she placed fifth on beam at the European Championships in Moscow, a career high for her. The following year, she placed fifth on beam at the Cottbus World Cup and fourth in the all-around at the International Women Friendly. At the Korea Cup, she won floor exercise silver and all-around and balance beam bronze. She represented Poland at her fifth World Championships in Nanning, China. There, she submitted a dance element on floor exercise to the FIG: a split jump with a full turn to ring. After successfully performing it in qualifications, it was added to the Code of Points and named after her. 2015 After placing fourth on beam at the Cottbus World Cup, she competed at the Poland International, winning all-around and balance beam gold, floor exercise silver, vault bronze, and placing sixth on bars. She was named to the Polish team for the inaugural European Games, helping them to eleventh place in the team final. Later, she competed at a friendly meet against gymnasts from Austria and Hungary, winning all-around gold, team and vault silver, and uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise bronze. She competed at the Barborka Cup, winning all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise silver, and placing sixth on uneven bars. She returned to the World Championships, this time in Glasgow, Scotland, but Poland did not qualify to the team final or the Olympic Test Event. 2016 Jurkowska-Kowalska started off the season at the Austrian Team Open, placing fourth in the all-around, and also placed fourth with her team at the Stuttgart World Cup. At the Cottbus World Cup, she won gold on balance beam and silver on floor exercise. With Poland's nineteenth place finish at the World Championships, they qualified two athletes to the Olympic Test Event. Jurkowska-Kowalska was sent to compete along with compatriot Gabriela Janik. Jurkowska-Kowalska placed thirty-second in the all-around, which qualified an individual Olympic spot for Poland. She competed at the Polish National Championships, winning gold on every event except uneven bars, where she won bronze. She had near-identical success at the Bundesliga, but instead won bronze on floor exercise. At the Varna World Cup in May, she won vault bronze and placing fifth on beam and ninth on uneven bars. She was named to the Polish team for the European Championships in Switzerland in June. Although Poland did not make the team final, she made the vault final and finished eighth. During the European Championships, Jurkowska-Kowalska was officially selected to compete as Poland's lone individual gymnast at the Olympics.Olympics In late June, she competed at the Anadia World Cup, placing seventh on vault. Rio Olympics Prior to the competition, Jurkowska-Kowalska submitted a new balance beam dismount: a Gainer back layout with a double twist. competed in the last subdivision of qualifications, starting on floor exercise. Unfortunately, she fell on her new dismount, resulting in it not being added to the Code of Points and named after her. She placed forty-sixth on floor exercise, forty-ninth in the all-around, seventy-first on balance beam, and seventy-sixth on uneven bars. 2017-2018 Jurkowska-Kowalska continued to compete after Rio, placing fourth on beam at the Cottbus World Cup in November. The following year, she competed at the Guimaraes World Cup in June, placing fifth on balance beam. She competed at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in late October. While didn’t make any individual finals, she did submit a Gainer back layout double twist dismount on balance beam, which she successfully performed in qualification and got named after her. After Doha, she competed at the Cottbus World Cup in Germany in November, but didn't make the event finals. Jurkowska-Kowalska announced her retirement in January 2019.retirement Medal Count References